Cupp far too optimistic about Trump administration

S. E. Cupp is giving the Trump administration way too much credit (“Saga of Mike Flynn both scary and oddly reassuring,” Thursday). To believe that they did a noble thing by cutting Flynn loose is pure fantasy. The Trump gang is sailing on stormy seas and taking on water. They jettisoned a box of rocks that shouldn’t have been allowed on board to begin with. It was an act of survival. Nothing more. Tony Galati, Lemont

Words that still hold true

It is admirable that our democracy has survived many storms and prospered for several hundred years based on the foresight of our founders and their concepts of what was needed to establish a democracy and assure its continuance. However, another serious storm is now upon us with the ascent of Donald Trump to the presidency. Our country is seriously polarized, Congress is totally ineffective, and the quality of leadership and direction forward is totally uncertain. It is ironic that Thomas Paine in his 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense” warned us of the specific problem now upon us:

“Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.”

Clearly Thomas Paine was addressing King George lll of England at that time, but his words still hold true today.

We should be mindful of the lessons history teaches us. In this case we have forgotten the words of Thomas Paine and now are doomed to live with the consequences. John P. Unik, Naperville

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